2014 WSOP | TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS
PLAY BY THE RULES
Tournament directors are the glue that holds poker tournaments together. When the floor is
called you can rely on them to make a fair ruling and keep the tournament running smoothly
W
access the rules themselves. Social media is
also important in this aspect, as discussions
of rulings via Twitter and popular poker
message boards make players feel like they
have a source of two-way information
sharing. Matt Savage probably gets a
hundred tweets a week that are questions
about rulings.
What are the most significant changes in
the implementation of the rules or the
organization of a poker tournament in
the past few years?
With the advancement in technology, do
you believe that tournament directors are
gaining the upper hand on cheaters? How
far do you think we are from a day where it
would be virtually impossible to cheat in a
poker tournament?
2014 WSOP
hen there is a decision to be made,
Tournament Directors are summoned
and asked to save the day… and that’s
exactly what TDs around the world do.
We reached out to three of the best
– Executive Tour Director of the WPT
Matt Savage, Bay 101 Tournament Director Brian
Gudim and Director of Poker Operations at Parx
Casino Bill Entenman – and asked a few questions
about the state of tournament directing today…
SAVAGE: The most significant change in the
past few years has been re-entry and how
they are handled. When I started re-entry at
the Commerce in 2010 it was never intended
to be multiple re-entry and I think this has
caused major damage to the tournament
ecosystem. I have done my best to reduce
the amount of re-entry events and I hope
someday soon others will realize the
damage they can create.
GUDIM: There have been quite a few
significant changes to poker over the past
few years. One of the best changes last year
is that the TDA added three people to their
Board of Directors (Jack Effel, Neil Johnson
and Tab Duchateau). This helps with getting
all the tours like the WSOP, WPT, and EPT
following the TDA rules, since a lot of
players play most of these events. Again,
it’s all about the consistency.
Matt Savage, one of the world’s
leading tournament directors
most recreational of poker players better
educated now than they were before?
SAVAGE: Yes, I believe the worldwide
implementation of the TDA has been pretty
smooth. Even though some regulations
in jurisdictions restrict certain rules from
changing, I believe the core has been
maintained amazingly well. Players have
come to expect that when TDA rules are in
place, they know what to expect.
ENTENMAN: Late entries getting full stacks
is an improvement that has evolved in the
past few years and is very player friendly.
The ‘first card off the deck rule’ is something
that I would like to see changed in the next
year. Not only is it flawed and universally
disliked by players, but it’s also a big step in
the wrong direction when rooms want to say
‘we follow TDA rules, except this one’.
GUDIM: The TDA hel Y